My wife and I were suddenly awakened this morning at 5 a.m. by the sound of the worst catfight I have ever heard. I sprang out of bed and opened the door to see Chris and Frankie going at it. I yelled for them to stop and tried to separate them to no avail. Chris then ran into the bedroom with Frankie on his tail. It was clear that Frankie was the aggressor so I picked him up to put him out of the bedroom but he scratched and dug his claws into me until I had to let him go.
Once he hit the ground he went after Chris again and I had no choice but to put my hands and arms in the line of fire again. I quickly picked him up and threw him out the door and quickly closed the door. When I say “threw” I mean “threw.” I was four feet from the door and didn’t want to risk further injury by walking him to another room.
I cleaned the blood off my hands and arms and put bandages on my fingers and then went out of the room. WhiIe I was making coffee I cleaned the water bowls so I could put one in the bedroom with Chris. I asked Rose to help since she was in the bedroom and Frankie was lurking outside the door. I thought I could quickly hand the water bowl to her while using my body as a shield to keep Frankie out, but I thought wrong. Frankie slipped past me and into the bedroom where he immediately attacked Chris again.
Rose tried to protect Chris with a pillow while I tried to get Frankie off him. I finally got Frankie out of the bedroom but my hands were torn up worse than ever.
As soon as things settled down I brought a litterbox inside and closed Frankie in the Florida room, better known as the cats’ room, and opened the bedroom door so Chris could come out. He eventually wandered to where he could see Frankie and he started growling at him.
Frankie was growling at Chris too but you can’t hear it on the video.
I made an appointment as soon as the vet opened for Frankie to come in but they didn’t have an opening until 3:30. We didn’t know which cat should go but we figured the aggressor was more likely to have a problem. The funny thing was, Frankie was not being mean to Flokie and he was very affectionate to me. I sat in there with him for a while and he snuggled on my lap.
By 11 a.m. I noticed Chris lying on the spare bed and decided to close him in the spare bedroom and let Frankie out for a while.
Before I knew it, Frankie and Flokie were lying together on our bed. The comforter is missing because I had to wash the blood off it.
Rose is convinced that Chris is acting more lethargic than usual so we decided to bring Chris in instead of Frankie. I don’t know what we are going to do about the fighting. Hopefully, Chris is okay and this will all blow over.
Bad Cat Chris 
yikes – that is very scary. is it possible something outside set them off – we have had a couple occurrences of misplaced aggression here and it can be scary
We thought of that. Rose thinks there is a feral cat spraying outside our house but I have never seen him. We sprayed some orange oil around the front door area to hopefully keep him away. I’m not sure that would explain agression against Chris but not Floki.
redirected aggression is weird and it can land on whoever is near by or on whoever walks into the room.. I hope it doesn’t happen again
Thanks. I am not so sure it’s redirected aggression. If it was then I would think Floki would be a target too, but he and Frankie have been playing just fine today.
Redirected aggression can happen to only one member of the family while peace reigns supreme with the rest. Please don’t stop looking fur the cause, cuz it could truly be just a simple case of misplaced aggression. And ifin so, and not fixed it could be pawssible fur Floki to become an aggressor along with Frankie.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
oh my you had to all be terrified. I hope you washed those scratches really well. Praying all is ok with all of you!
Thanks Caren. I’m at the vet now with Chris.
Dang, I sure hope all is okay, we know how scary that is.
Thanks. I took Chris to the vet today and he seems okay so I’m going to bring Frankie on Thursday. when Chris got home they seem to be getting along for about 5 minutes and then the fighting started.
Wow! What an alarming situation! You, of course, havew some serious injuries that will need fuirther attention should they become infected. Best wishes for resolving this kitty issue, too.
Let’s hope they don’t get infected because I do not want to be put on antibiotics.
I usually do a good wash with soap and water and try to avoid antibiotics, too. I put bandages on the wotrst of them and let the others air dry. Some of yours look like deep puncture type wounds, which are the ones I personablly find alarming. (Andy tends to bite if he’s cat sensibilities are pressed too far…) Best wishes on your wounds, and I hope you find a solution to the kitty wats, too. It is troub,ling whrn they break out among our furfriends.
Thanks. They are still separated this morning. My wounds all seem okay today except one on my left index finger that is swollen and painful.
Wow! Must have nicked the bone…
This happens with Wally and Ernie sometimes to the point where they have to be separated. And I don’t know what sets it off. Eventually things settle down.
I hope eventually come soon.
Ah, something I do know a little about. After getting along OK for 9 years, suddenly Graybow started attacking Little Girl. I’d hear horrid fights and find tufts of hair all over the room where the fight took place. Little Girl wouldn’t come downstairs to eat and she hid under the bed. It escalated to where she was using the bathroom under the bed because she was afraid to go to the litter box.
I took all four cats to the vet to make sure there was no physical cause. the vet and I talked and decided to try Graybie and Little Girl on meds- fluoxetine (Prozac). It has helped a great deal. They still aren’t the best of friends but I can at least leave the home for short errands without having to separate them.
I’m not saying this will help your situation, but I wanted you to know that medication can help if it comes to that.
Chris went to the vet today and Frankie is going Thursday. I hope we figure it out by then because giving a cat Prozac is stressful for the cat. We went through that with Puck and gave up because administering the medicine raised his stress level when we were trying to lower it.
I haven’t had that experience. I sprinkle it in their wet food.
I tried that but I always knew it was there and wouldn’t eat his food. it is possible then another cat, like Frankie, might be different and not notice it or not care.
We’re so sorry this happened. It could be misplaced aggression from somethin’ they saw or heard or smelled outside. Thru the years, mommy says she’s had a little of these kinds of things. Ya’ have to get to the bottom of the purroblem so it can be corrected fur everypawdy to be okay. The only time it wasn’t a case of misplaced aggression due to outward things was cuz of a brain tumor. We’re sendin’ lots of hugs and purrayers.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
Ouch! Do you have Feliway plug-ins? Calming collars? I have also heard as a last resort of prozac helping to calm the aggressor.
that was a bad surprise… but we hope Chris is ok and you will get good news from the vet… I’m so sorry that your arms look like fighting a tiger, I hope it heals up quickly…btw: we can hear the noises in the video….;O)
I think Frankie is over it but Chris doesn’t trust him and growls at him. As of now they are still separated.
I wonder if it was redirected aggression. Also, sometimes if a cat is sick, a cat that was formerly pals with him may start attacking him. I hope you are able to get things settled down, regardless of the cause.
The vet didn’t find anything wrong with Chris, although we didn’t do bloodwork. She didn’t see any obvious reason to have them done but offered me a couple of options if I wanted to. I decided to spend the extra money on Frankie and made an appointment for him.
How painful all round. Make sure your scratches are ok, infection is a huge risk. Fingers crossed you get to the root of the problem.
Thanks. It hurts to cross my fingers but I am watching them for infection. I have one spot that concerns me but the rest are okay.
Oh no………..I know that had to be extremely upsetting and actually a bit frightening. Your wounds absolutely are bad especially punctures so I hope Neosporin will help. As for the cats – seems the overwhelming majority feel it may be misplaced aggression and while I’ve never experienced that back in the days when I had more than one cat, it is alarming for sure. I do hope the vet is able to figure something out. Hopefully SOON.
Pam
Chris has no obvious illness but we didn’t do blood work. Frankie is going on Thursday. This morning, Frankie seems okay with Chris but Chris is not okay with Frankie.
Gosh we sure hope something changes for the BETTER……has to be difficult for everyone!
Thanks. It is very difficult right now. I hope it changes soon too.
I can’t even imagine what that’s like but hoping for you and Rose and the cats whatever is wrong changes soon…..
Thanks. I think things will get back to normal soon.
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I’m so sorry; that sounds awful. They always tell you not to get between two fighting cats. But what are you supposed to do? Let them tear each other to shreds?
You are right and I will do it again if I need too.
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